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We have to do what we know is right, whatever it costs us. Isn’t that what you’re saying? The situation is not going to get better on its own; we’re going to have to stand up and let ourselves be vulnerable.

This is a quote by Viktor Frankl, so I’m not the one saying it, but it resonated with me because so often it seems that fear is considered something that needs to be overcome, an obstacle in the way, that overcoming fear is a prerequisite to achieving or accomplishing something when what’s actually required is recognition that there’s something more important than the fear itself and the moment we recognize—really, viscerally recognize—that something is more important than the fear, we find the courage to overcome it.

Viktor Frankl is such a hero, such a giant among the rest of us, that I am inclined to believe him, even though I know I have never faced anything as fearful as what he experienced in the Nazi concentration camps. Still, even in my small life, I am learning to overcome despair by focusing on the bigger picture.